rick brown is chief operating officer. >> any medicare patient that was in the hospital, if they came from a nursing home because the nursing home got evacuated, that patient does not meet what medicare calls acute care criteria to be in acute care hospital, so we will not get paid by them. >> reporter: so basically, you opened your doors to a lot of people who needed help and you may have to eat that cost. >> that's probably true. >> reporter: what's more, brown says he was stunned to learn that a new york city hotline alerted people they could find shelter at st. john's. >> he has this whole hospital area in his own house. >> reporter: one of those was jose martinez, who uses a ventilator to keep him breathing, and who had to be evacuated after the storm hit. how quickly did you realize you were in serious trouble? >> well, we didn't realize it until my wife went to the basement. she was folding some clothes in the laundry. all of a sudden she heard water dripping. so she looked around to see where it was coming from. she found out it was coming from the window, through the window.